Social Navigation

Lukewarm Stove: Garza, Gonzalez, Fielder, Francis, Harrison, Crisp

Will the nature of the Lukewarm Stove take a turn now that Sean Marshall has been dealt? I tend to think not, as I discussed at length yesterday. The Cubs will continue to look at making moves via trade or free agency that improve the team for the future, with an emphasis on the long-term. That was always the plan.

ADVERTISEMENT

The biggest piece the Cubs have to trade is, of course, pitcher Matt Garza. With Yu Darvish going off the board to the Rangers (even if they can’t ultimately sign him, the Cubs aren’t going to wait 30 days just to see if the Rangers re-enter the market for Garza – if Garza is traded, it’ll almost certainly be in the next 30 days), Garza’s market shrank a bit. The Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox make sense for a number of reasons, as do the Nationals, Marlins, Tigers and Orioles. Frankly, any team that wants to add a starting pitcher should have already been talking to the Cubs.

The White Sox just extended John Danks for five years and $65 million (one year of arbitration in there, four free agent years). It’s a decent deal for the White Sox, and Danks is only 26, but, like … rebuilding? What exactly is their plan? This will have an interesting impact on the Cubs vis a vis Matt Garza. Could the Cubs use that contract as a benchmark for trying to extend Garza on a favorable deal? Then again, it takes Danks off the market (probably), which helps the market for Garza.

Gio Gonzalez, the other big-time pitcher currently on the trade market, is close to being moved, says Buster Olney. There’s a chance he’s moved as soon as today. The bidding is down to two teams, according to Olney, the Nationals and either the Marlins or the Red Sox. Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this week that the Nationals are working hard to land Gonzalez. Because the Nationals have only vaguely been attached to Garza rumors, that should be your horse in the Gonzalez race. If Gio lands in Washington, all of the AL East teams outside of Tampa Bay remain in the market for a starting pitcher, and the best one available – Garza – is a guy they know well.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Cubs have talked to Jeff Francis as a possible left-handed pitching depth option. Whether the acquisition of Travis Wood scuttles those talks – or the ones with Paul Maholm, for that matter – remains to be seen. Gordon Wittenmyer says the Cubs will keep pursuing guys like Maholm and Francis, regardless of Wood. Check out Francis if you must. Depth is all he’d be.

Teams continue to wait for Prince Fielder’s price tag to drop. Whether or not the Cubs are “rebuilding,” until/unless they pull the trigger on a deal for someone like Anthony Rizzo, I will continue to believe they would be willing to sign the 27-year-old Fielder to a five-year deal. The problem is Fielder is still asking for ten.

ADVERTISEMENT

Phil Rogers suggests the Cubs could go after lefty Matt Harrison if the Rangers make him available in the wake of the Yu Darvish addition. He says they could make the move for Randy Wells and Marlon Byrd, which I seriously doubt. Harrison, 26, is in his first year of arbitration, and is coming off his first truly great year (3.39 ERA, 1.276 WHIP, K rate climbing, BB rate falling, 131 ERA+). If he’s available, I’d certainly hope the Cubs would take a look.

The Cardinals are talking to theoretical Cubs target Coco Crisp, but seem to be more interested in Carlos Beltran.

Disclaimer

In addition to news, Bleacher Nation publishes both rumor and opinion, as well as information reported by other sources. Information on Bleacher Nation may contain errors or inaccuracies, though we try to avoid them. Links to content and the quotation of material from other news sources are not the responsibility of Bleacher Nation. Photos used are the property of Bleacher Nation, are used under a license with Getty Images, are used with permission, are fair use, or are believed to be in the public domain. Legitimate requests to remove copyrighted photos not in the public domain will be honored promptly. Comments by third parties are neither sponsored or endorsed by Bleacher Nation.

Bleacher Nation Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Bleacher Nation is a private media site, and it is not affiliated in any way with Major League Baseball or the Chicago Cubs. Neither MLB nor the Chicago Cubs have endorsed, supported, directed, or participated in the creation of the content at this site, or in the creation of the site itself. It's just a media site that happens to cover MLB and the Chicago Cubs.

Bleacher Nation is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.